Cons

Bottom Line

The August Doorbell Cam Pro delivers sharp, colorful HD video and offers motion detection with Hindsight recording so you won't miss a thing.

20 Dec 2017John R. Delaney

When we reviewed the original August Doorbell Cam last year, we were impressed with its sharp video quality and its ability to integrate with August smart locks, but were disappointed that it lacked motion detection and video recording capabilities. With the Doorbell Cam Pro ($199), August addresses both of these gripes and adds a few other nice features, including Hindsight, which uses pre-buffering to capture 10 seconds of activity before a motion event occurs, and a neat little floodlight feature that lights up the video feed at night. That's enough to make it our Editors' Choice for smart doorbells.

Design and Features

The Doorbell Cam Pro measures 2.9 by 2.9 by 0.8 inches (HWD) and comes in dark gray or silver. As with the original Doorbell Cam, it has a large 2-inch round button in the center that rings the bell and activates the camera in the upper right corner. In the middle of the button is a backlit August logo that acts as a mini-floodlight when motion is detected or when the button is pressed. The camera has a 1,280-by-960 resolution and a 120-degree field of view, and uses the embedded floodlight to provide full color video at night. In the upper left corner is a motion sensor and below the main button is a speaker and microphone array that provides two-way audio.

The Cam Pro snaps on to a 3-by-3-inch square mounting plate with terminals for your doorbell wiring and two mounting holes for attaching it to an outside surface. Included in the box is a mounting wedge for angling the camera up or down, and an assortment of mounting hardware including screws, anchors, an Allen wrench, and sealing putty. Also included is a small USB charging dock and cable you can use to charge the internal battery, which makes it easy to set up the doorbell without having to connect it to your existing wiring. It's important to note that the doorbell must be connected to a 12-24VAC power source (which is commonly used for doorbell wiring) and that the battery is just used for setup and as a temporary backup.

When we reviewed the first Doorbell Cam it did not support recorded video, but thankfully the Pro does. It comes with a 30-day free August Video Recording trial which is automatically enabled when you first set up the doorbell. After that you'll need to pay $4.99 per month or $49.99 per year for a subscription that gives you access to 30 days worth of video. A basic plan with free access to the last 24 hours of video would be a nice option here.

The doorbell uses the same mobile app (for Android and iOS) as other August smart devices, including the Smart Lock Pro + Connect. When the button is pressed a push notification is sent to your phone. Tap the notification to launch a live video feed that contains a microphone button for two-way audio, a lock button for opening or closing a connected August smart lock, and an end button for ending the stream.

When you first launch the app, the Keychain screen displays a list of all locations linked to your account. Tap the house with the Doorbell Cam Pro that you want to access, then tap the camera icon at the bottom of the page to launch a live stream. Tapping the Activity button displays a list of doorbell activities such as answered and missed calls, detected motion, and lock openings and closings. To view a video clip (along with the 10 seconds that preceded it thanks to the Hindsight recording feature), tap the arrow on the thumbnail. While in viewing mode you can download the clip or share it via text message, email, or Facebook. The Guest List button displays a list of guests you have invited to use your August devices and their access levels, and the gear button opens the Settings screen.

The settings allow you to enable/disable notifications and motion detection, sync the doorbell to an August Smart Lock, enable/disable the chime, and set motion sensitivity and speaker volume. Here you can also turn off the floodlight and set its brightness level, test your Wi-Fi signal strength, switch Wi-Fi networks, and run a video speed test to see how well the Doorbell Cam Pro will stream a live feed.

As with the original Doorbell Cam, the Pro doesn't work with third-party smart home devices and you can't use August's If This Then That (IFTTT) channel to have it trigger other devices, but it does support Amazon Alexa commands that allow you to view live video on Echo Show and Fire TV devices.

Installation and Performance

If you don't already have an August account, you'll have to download the mobile app and create one. I already had an account and selected Set up a New Device in the main menu, then selected the Doorbell Cam Pro. I hit Start and followed the illustrated instructions to connect the USB dock to a power source. I placed the Doorbell Cam Pro on the dock and waited a few seconds for the LED to begin flashing white. I pressed OK and the device was identified. I selected my house and my Wi-Fi SSID, and the doorbell was connected within 45 seconds.

I then followed the detailed instructions that show how to connect the doorbell to my existing wiring and attach it to the front of my house. The process was easy and I experienced none of the issues that I encountered when I installed the original Doorbell Cam.

The Doorbell Cam Pro worked wonderfully in my testing. Daytime video appeared sharp, with good color quality and no evidence of barrel distortion, and night video was well-lit and colorful. The floodlight feature provided enough light to see who was at the door without being overly bright. Two-way audio communication between the doorbell and my phone were loud and clear, and contained very little background noise from passing vehicles.

I had no trouble opening and closing an August Smart Lock Pro from within the Doorbell screen, and was able to use Alexa voice commands to display live video on my TV using an Amazon Fire TV Stick and an Amazon Echo. Motion detection also worked perfectly once I adjusted the sensitivity, and push alerts and recorded video arrived promptly.

Conclusions

With the Doorbell Cam Pro, August takes the best of the original Doorbell Cam and adds some much-needed improvements, including motion detection and recorded video. It also gives the Pro a cool floodlight feature that ensures you'll be able to see who is at your door in full color, even in the dark of night, and a Hindsight recording feature that captures activity before a motion trigger or doorbell ring. As with the original Doorbell Cam, the Pro uses your existing doorbell wiring and is fairly easy to install and configure, and it delivers very sharp HD video you can view on a number of Amazon devices, as well as clean two-way audio. Integration with IFTTT would be a great addition, as would a free cloud plan that gives you limited access to your videos, but neither gripe prevents the Doorbell Cam Pro from earning our Editors' Choice for smart doorbells.

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About the Author

As a Contributing Editor for PC Magazine, John Delaney has been testing and reviewing monitors, HDTVs, PCs, servers, and other assorted hardware and peripherals for more than 14 years. A 13-year veteran of PC Magazine's Labs (most recently as Director of Operations), John was responsible for the recruitment, training and management of the Labs technical staff, as well as evaluating and maintaining the integrity of the Labs testing machines and procedures.

Prior to joining Ziff Davis Publishing, John spent six years in retail operations for Federated Stores, Inc. before accepting a purchasing position with Morris Decision Systems, one of New York's first value-added resellers of the original IBM PC. For ... See Full Bio